Overview

Storyline

This is Sonic the Hedgehog 2, that old Mega Drive/Genesis classic we all know and love. It isn’t heavy on story; Dr. Robotnik steals the Chaos Emeralds leaving it up to Sonic the Hedgehog and his sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower to save the day. Simple! There is more of a back-story built up outside of the game however – if you find yourself interested in this, the legendary Wikipedia sums it up fine.

Gameplay

Sonic 2 is a side-scrolling platform game split into stages and then acts but I reckon you already know this; after all it has been around a while now – the emphasis (of course) being completing stages as speedily as possible whilst collecting rings (for Special Stages) and earning points. STH 2 is fast and furious, at the time of release it was a pioneer of its genre and even now it’s better than an awful lot of modern platformers. Oh, then there’s Super Sonic, a yellow high powered, faster version of our hero who makes the game even more fun – obtainable only via cheat or collecting each of the Chaos Emeralds.

Everything I’ve mentioned above is vintage Sonic 2 before its re-release on XBL and to be honest the only new addition is the ability to ‘save state’ anywhere, any time.

Graphics

1992 is the year Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in Japan so quite obviously it’s somewhat dated now and there have been efforts made to smooth things over but no doubt there are a number of people out there awaiting a full remake. Not me though, I think that the graphics add character and remind us of the videogame origins.

Sound

Catchy MIDI tracks and signature sound effects – there’s nothing amazing here but its much better than some titles of its time.

Overall Score & Replayability

STH 2 has lasted this long and still manages to attract new players as well as reunite itself with the old ones. This is an achievement of magnificent proportions. Ten years from now I don’t doubt many will come back again.